Days, months and years
Name the days, months and years, and get to know the Thai calendar.
A Thai date has the same parts as an English one, in the order day, month, year, as in British English. The parts themselves take some getting used to, starting with the days of the week. Each name has two pieces: วัน, day, and the name of a heavenly body from Indian astrology. จันทร์ is the moon, เสาร์ is Saturn, and อาทิตย์ is the sun. Each day also has a colour. Some people wear the colour of the day they were born on, and yellow is closely tied to the monarchy: both King Bhumibol and King Vajiralongkorn were born on a Monday.
Seven days
You don't have to memorise twelve unrelated names. The ending tells you how many days the month has: months with 31 days end in -คม, and months with 30 end in -ยน. February has its own ending, -พันธ์, so the rule holds for all twelve. In timetables and on forms a month is shortened to the first letter of its name and the first letter of its ending: January is ม.ค., October is ต.ค. Three months keep a vowel so they don't clash with others: March มี.ค., April เม.ย., June มิ.ย.
Twelve months
Thailand counts years in the Buddhist Era, which is 543 years ahead of the Western count. So 2026 is 2569. You'll see it well beyond temples: on ID cards, receipts, expiry dates and official papers. The full name is พุทธศักราช, shortened to พ.ศ. The Western year is ค.ศ. and appears where foreign readers are expected.
In full: วันที่ 15 สิงหาคม 2569, 15 August 2026. In writing the year stands alone or after พ.ศ.; when speaking, people usually add ปี.
See you on Saturday.
There's no word for on: the day simply goes at the end.
I'll be back next month.
After a time word, หน้า means next and ที่แล้ว means last: เดือนที่แล้ว, ปีหน้า.
My birthday is 15 August.
วันที่ goes before the number. It shows that fifteen is a date.
I'm free next week.
The shop is closed on Sundays.
ทุก means every. Without it the sentence would be about one particular Sunday. Notice วัน before อาทิตย์: this is a day, not a week.
Date words
Common mistake
อาทิตย์ means both Sunday and week, and วัน in front tells them apart. อาทิตย์หน้า means next week, so it won't name next Sunday: for that you need วันอาทิตย์หน้า. If you mean Sunday but say อาทิตย์หน้า, the other person hears next week and may come whenever suits them.
Practise
Kai says
Thai digits have their own shapes: ๐ through ๙. The number practice helps you connect those shapes with values you already know.